Interview: Rita El Khoury

 

Rita is the author of Dotsix and editor on Symbian-Guru. Do you want to learn more about a woman in the S60 world? If so, read on.

Previous interviews:

–Michell Bak (MobileExpert)
–Michael Hell (Nokianblog)
-Gregory Taieb (Symbianfrance)
-James Burland (Nokiacreative)
–Ricky Cadden (Symbian-Guru)
-Phillip Schwarzman (S60)
-Rafe Blandford (Allaboutsymbian)
-Steve Litchfield (3lib)
–Mark Guim (theNokiablog)
–Phat^Trance (Dailymobile)
–PseudoFinn (NokiaUsers)
–Tarek Ghazali (Symbiano-Tek)

So,tell me something about your person.(age,hobby etc.)

Lebanese, 22 years old, 5th year pharmacy student. My passions range from biotechnologies (my current thesis topic), French and English poetry, all genres of music and movies to imitations and accent speaking and of course anything Symbian and windows mobile.

How do you came to the mobile and S60 scene?

I had a 6610 and was hunting for an upgrade. Nokia was a sure bet, because of its stability and great Lebanese market share. My friend had bought the 6630 a couple of months before and she surprised me by installing many applications on it. Tweaking and personalizing was a must for me so I knew I was looking for an S60 device. That’s how I spotted the 3250, and with S60 3rd edition being on board, I made my choice. After that, it all went quite quickly, from getting applications to discovering tips and reading blogs. I was hooked.

Tell us something about your blog.

Dotsisx’ first aim is S60 3rd edition, but as it’s stated it’s about “S60 3rd Edition and more” so I don’t mind talking about the mobile industry, new technologies and there’s always the personal touch. I have always felt that personal touches helped me get to know other bloggers better so that’s why I sometimes talk about my studies, my personal experiences, my country, and others.
In the S60 3rd edition arena, I try to review applications or post wish lists for future improvements, I also do some Head2Head posts between applications that perform the same tasks. I usually post every other day, mainly because I don’t post news (they usually are all over the blogosphere) unless I have a personal opinion to add.

Why did you start blogging?

Dotsisx was initiated because I noticed there were little female bloggers around, that Lebanese bloggers were absent and that I could have a voice in the community. I started on Vox then moved to Blogger for a more personalized experience.

Do you have a idol (blogging idol)?

I don’t consider them as idols but I sure respect their work : the guys on AllAboutSymbian for their amazing work, Michael Mace of Mobile Opportunity for his insightful posts, Stefan Constantinescu of IntoMobile for going to Finland and pursuing his dream.

What was your first S60 phone and which device do you have at the moment?

My first and only S60 device is the Nokia 3250 (I can only afford to change devices every 2-3 years). Talk about a great experience! I also have a Qtek 9100 running Windows Mobile 5. But I have had the chance to work on my friends’ N80, N73, N76 and 6120.

What do you like most about S60?

The great community behind it, the innovation and the fact that there is nothing I would like to do on the platform that hasn’t been provided by some sort of application, from managing office documents, remote controlling my pc, installing great medical references on Mobireader and iSilo, and many more.

Where should S60 make improvements?

Three domains:
– letting developers exploit the standby screen (much like WinMo’s today screen)
– getting the Menu together (every S60 device has a different item layout and that freaks the user)
– helping more developers catch the s60 platform, especially when it comes to profession-axed applications (medical, legal, engineering,…) by facilitating the development process and the signing process (especially for freeware)

Now a question you miss and you want to answer?

I can’t think of anything really, but since we’re in the holiday spirits:
What do you want Santa Claus to get you for Christmas?
Answer clear and easy: an N95-8Gb. I have already placed a “desperate” call to just trial it on my blog, but no answer yet.

Before we wrap it up, I just want to say than you for all fellow bloggers who encouraged me and adopted me in this circle: Darla Mack (she was the first), Ricky Cadden, Zacharye Epstein, Michael Hell, Tarek Ghazali and of course you Norman for this interview 😉

~ by Norman John on December 15, 2007.